Necessary CookiesNecessary Cookies cannot be unchecked, because they are necessary for our website to function properly. They store your language, currency, shopping cart and login credentials.

Analytics CookiesWe use google.com analytics and bing.com to monitor site usage and page statistics to help us improve our website. You may turn this on or off using the tick boxes above.

Marketing CookiesMarketing Cookies do track personal data. Google and Bing monitor your page views and purchases for use in advertising and re-marketing on other websites. You may turn this on or off using the tick boxes above.

Social CookiesThese 3rd Party Cookies do track personal data. This allows Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest integration. eg. shows the Facebook 'LIKE' button. They will however be able to view what you do on our website. You may turn this on or off using the tick boxes above.

Posted:18th Sep 2011I have falling head over heels for my contact fire swords... My first pair (from trick concepts) was poorly made so I had to return them (and they only gave me a partial refund) and it was a couple of weeks before I could afford a new pair, but when I could, i got a pair from bear claw manufacturing, and they are amazing.

The only issue is that I am having a hard time finding anyone who has had more experience then me, with this style of fire sword, and fire swords in general.One of my least favorite aspect is that I have only found one video in all of the interwebs with this style of sword, and Riz was only using one... It is also my favorite part about them as the only rules and boundaries I have are set by my own physical limitations, and as there is no one saying do it this way or that way I am freed of any mental constants as to what I can do.

However I would love to find someone who has had some experience with contact fire swords and using two at a time. I have friends who work with contact staffs, and dual staffs, and also a few people who are good at object manipulation in general, and now and then we can discover a new move, but I would love to have someone who can give me pointers on who do get a move smoother, or when I can get one quite down, even thought I can understand how it should work, help me unlock it.

well thank you

Peace.Love.FlowWith out Peace in your soul, you will not know Love in your heart, which will lead you to your Flow.If you have Peace in your mind, you will have Love in your heart, and then your body will be free to Flow.

Posted:22nd Sep 2011Sorry for your interaction with Trick Concepts; I got my first floating fire sword from Rovo on behalf of Trick Concepts and loved it. However, the sale was in person. Bear Claw's are pretty awesome too, a bit thicker and kinder to the body. Once I find a large copper or steel ball to drill and tap, I may just make my own.

I am assuming you mean dual floating fire swords as those are the only ones one can perform contact moves that I know of. I doubt I have more experience than you, but I do have some and would be more than willing to share ideas and new moves with them. As for others, I have seen some wicked double and triple staves out there; but you are right, almost nothing for floating swords.

I'm much more adept with contact staves, and that's how I branched into the swords and would love to share what I have picked up. The main problem I'm having is trying to do a matrix with the floating sword since the handle length is so small. Otherwise I'm using the two much like one would with conjurer's or triple staff, i.e. holding the other(s) while doing contact moves with just one. I'm unsure of what one can do beyond conveyors and wraps with two contact at the same time, but if you ever come up with something, please share.

Posted:25th Sep 2011I am just feeling things out... I have been able to figure out a few ways to use them much like poi... a basic weave, a few tosses, working with some of the same planes. I also have been trying to mix by using a poi with a sword, this gets hard at points, but i think it is at least partly due to a strength disparty in my arms, thanks to a few injuries to my left shoulder... they are healed with minimal effects but I am working on evening them out as the right is clearly stronger...

I have been having a hard time figuring out the around the neck roll, but while I have to relearn the feel of it, I enjoy placing them with the weight to the front, and rolling my shoulders, sending them down my arms and under into my hands

Peace.Love.FlowWith out Peace in your soul, you will not know Love in your heart, which will lead you to your Flow.If you have Peace in your mind, you will have Love in your heart, and then your body will be free to Flow.

Posted:27th Sep 2011Shlomo, I hope your left shoulder gets stronger, but I'm sure it will. I think for mixed media, a whip or spinning shield would work well with a floating sword, what do you think? Do you have BearCM's Contact, Covered Floating or exposed ball floating sword? The exposed (from TC) is slightly better in terms of balance, but without the full taper, it trips me up sometimes.

I few things I discovered over this weekend:

It is really helpful mark both the 'empty' balance point and the fueled balance point. Tip: Weight your flow toy without fuel, fuel, spin off, weight it with fuel, subtract the difference. I don't like dipping, so I note the fuel amount elsewhere and use a squeeze bottle to fuel up. You can then create a sheath or cover that is the same weight as the fuel. That way you can practice with the fueled balance point. Not so important on poi or staves, but very significant with flow wands and floating swords.

Wraps arm much easier with the handle/hilt/pommel not the blade going first. Or just the heavier end for any unbalanced object such as a light on a mono-pod (got bored as a lighting assistant).Another tip: break the "I have to catch it so it doesn't fall on the ground" habit. 3/4 of this thing may be on fire, I kept grabbing the blade. Having another toy in each hand forces you to just let it fall and also makes you work transitions.

The ball really gets in the way of flat spins. Careful when your're on your shoulders especially.

Really work on 'isolation throws'. I know that when it's in the air it will spin about it's center, but throwing it up like a club and stabbing the air then letting go are very different. Trying to isolate the sword really helps get to know how it wants to move, and just watching it spin in the air gives you a check on what it wants to do by itself. Don't necessarily use throws, but get a feel of it, this thing is very 'knacky'.

Get used to an ice-pick grip, but be careful of starting into contact moves, because the other end of what you think is coming around, i.e. the blade. Also, you'll use ice-pick to start neck-wraps hilt/pommel first.

Balancing is funky, with the COG so close to the pommel, the entire sword moves as you try to balance it. Dropping down into fishtails is practically impossible for me.

Weaves work the same way as with whips or any other sword pair, it just feels really cool with the COG so close to your hands. I'm experimenting with hand wraps in 3-beat-weaves and hopefully Fwd3BW, overhead 2BW, Bkwd3BW type fountains.

I plan to play with this further, but if anyone has tips, please share.